Video Game Spotlight - Kingdom Hearts
For the final day of summer, August, and Blaugust itself, I thought it would be fitting to wrap things up with a finale that honours the main intention and partial namesake of this blog: sincerity! I can already tell that I have more to say about it than I can fit here in a blog post, so perhaps those thoughts will have to be expressed some other place, some other way, someday... but for now, here's what I have to share for today.
Kingdom Hearts as a series is many things, but I think that perhaps more than anything, it is sincere. This has been true since the first Kingdom Hearts game released in 2002 and dared players to find out what an unlikely action JRPG crossover between classic Disney animated films and the Final Fantasy gaming universe could possibly offer to the world. The answer? A lot, if over a dozen more games released throughout the next 20 years is anything to go by. As it turns out, people resonated enough to keep following the adventures of the young protagonist Sora and his friends as they adventure through Disney worlds and beyond to restore light and peace to all existence. Across the narrative saga that has emerged from it since, the story and lore have taken on many twists, turns, expansions, and countless other developments. But fittingly enough, the heart of the series has always stayed earnestly rooted in themes of friendship, connections with the people you care about, and hope. This sincerity, in the emotional earnestness of its storytelling and its complete commitment to it, is what I appreciate the most about Kingdom Hearts.
Something like Kingdom Hearts can only exist because of its sincerity. Is it strange to see cartoon mascot Mickey Mouse dressed like an anime shonen protagonist? Is it cheesy to listen to multiple speeches about never giving up while saving the day with the literal power of friendship? Is it bizarre to witness Donald Duck squawk, "Sora, it's Sephiroth!" and share a scene with one of the most notorious villains in gaming history? Is it sappy to watch all of the heroes assure each other that their hearts will always stay connected forever no matter what? Is it cringe to take it all completely seriously?
The answer to all of that, at least for me, is: maybe! It can be, and it also doesn't have to be. For most people, the answer is probably yes, which is just fine, too. But I don't believe there is a default answer either way. Like with anything, how much someone gets out of their experience with the series will depend on how much they are willing to honestly engage with it. Considering the games outside the logic of its own universe, there are plenty of certainly absurd elements to Kingdom Hearts that feel impossible or embarrassing to take seriously at first glance. So I like that the series inherently asks, even requires, you to try anyway. Allow yourself to accept its fantastical invitation and play. Embrace your imagination. Be sincere. Believe. Try.
Kingdom Hearts is stubbornly and wholeheartedly sincere so that, if you want to, you can be, too. Because if the series didn't completely put in the effort to commit to its own wild premise, no matter how ridiculous it seems, how could it possibly expect anyone else to believe in it? And for those who do, perhaps there's something more to seek in the reflection of sincerity it provides. What are you capable of when you have the audacity to believe in your own vision, in your own feelings, and affirm that there is something deeply meaningful within them?
It may be simple (and clean...), but it's a reminder that sincerity matters and can make all the difference in how you navigate your experience (whether in a video game or potentially elsewhere in life, too). When I think of Kingdom Hearts, I think of sincerity, and that is why I appreciate it.